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Those courts “repeatedly rely on torture-tainted ‘confessions’ to convict and sentence people to death,” noted Amnesty.
Iran also executed at least five minors in 2023, all teenage boys who were below the age of 18 at the time of the crime.
One shocking case highlighted was that of Hamidreza Azari, a minor at 17 years of age at the time of execution. Mr Azari was hanged in Sabzevar prison last November, after he gave a “forced confession” aired on state media.
State media also misrepresented his age as 18 “to evade accountability,” said Amnesty.
Iran is one of the few countries in the world that uses the death penalty for juvenile offenders under 18, even though such executions are prohibited by international law.
Amnesty has further identified more than 80 people on death row who were under 18 at the time of the alleged crime, with some sitting on death row for more than a decade.
Death penalties have also disproportionately affected the suppressed Baluchi ethnic minority, which accounted for one-third of drug-related executions in Iran, though the group makes up only five per cent of the country’s population.
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